 Hi Families, English Language Arts MCAS will take place on Monday and Tuesday. Please be sure your child gets a good night’s rest, has a hearty breakfast, and arrives on time each day since we begin testing first thing in the morning. Students will get a short, silent snack break during testing. Please make sure the snack they bring is mess-free and can be eaten efficiently, as we will only have 5 minutes. I recommend granola or cereal bars. Students will have 2nd lunch, so they will be eating 35 minutes later than they are used to. Also, please send your child in with a book or two to read once they finish the MCAS. If your child gets distracted by extraneous noises, I recommend packing them a pair of earplugs to muffle unwanted sounds. Here is what we’ve been up to this past week. Parker Chorus and Band Demonstration A group of 8th grade Parker students in the chorus and band presented to 5th graders. Students learned about different instrument options, heard from 8th graders about their experiences, and listened and participated in some fun musical activities. Students were invited to attend the Parker Band Night on April 28th to try out a handful of instruments in person if they are interested in joining the Parker band. Math Unit 6: More Decimal and Fraction Operations We worked on measurement conversions this week, both in metric and US Customary units. Students seemed comfortable using their knowledge of multiplication and division with powers of 10 to solve metric conversions, such as: How many meters is 450 centimeters (4.5 meters). Students practiced changing miles to yards to feet to inches, incorporating some decimals and fractions in them, too. For example, students converted 30 inches to 2.5 feet by recognizing that 30 divided by 12 is 2 with a remainder of 6 inches, and 6 is half of 12. Complicated stuff, but students were doing great.
English Language Arts Unit 4: The Civil War Era We are learning about the history of enslavement leading up to the Civil War. This week we focused on the resistance to enslavement through legal means and rebellion. We continued reading from our whole class informational text: “Spirits of Resistance: Heroes in the Fight Against Enslavement,” learning about abolitionists and their efforts. We’ve focused on many vocabulary words, including: oppression, dignity, ingenious, and isolated. We also looked at complex sentences, focusing on finding the simple subject and predicate within a slew of clauses and phrases. We also practiced reading and responding to sample MCAS passages. Students read a variety of passages, on paper and on the computer, and learned some strategies to better comprehend challenging texts and to carefully read questions and prompts. We also learned how to shape our written responses so they best reflect our understanding of each text. Hopefully students will remember those strategies during the actual test! Science/Social Studies We welcomed Science From Scientists this week to learn about weather and climate. Students worked in teams to investigate different weather patterns of a region and match them to a given local on a world map. Students also read about acid rain and its impact on the structures and functions of plants. I also incorporated some Social Studies this week to review American History through the American Revolution and Constitution to better understand the history of enslavement and the Civil War. Community Building We celebrated the end of the month-long Read-a-Thon as a school on Wednesday. Congrats to all of our great readers! I would greatly appreciate a reminder to your child about the importance of their continued effort and focus in school, on homework, and in treating peers and teachers with respect. This time of year often comes with a drop in motivation for 5th graders given the promise of nicer weather and end-of-elementary-school activities. On top of that, the onset of puberty can cause students to push boundaries and test authority, making it challenging for teachers. I hope students will commit to finishing their last months of elementary school as role models. Thank you for your support from home! Homework This week we had a daily math sheet, a grammar packet on verbs, and independent reading for homework. I will not assign homework on MCAS days. You can stay on top of your child’s homework with my Homework Assignment Log. Upcoming Events
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
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